Intentions to Marry, 1882

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840394, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, April 16 2025

Page 567

District of Nelson Quarter ending 30 June 1882 Registrar Robert Kirton

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

01 June 1882

William Rogers
Florence Adele Manton

William Rogers
Florence Adele Manton
💍 1882/1213

Widower
Spinster

Surgeon
Nil

34
18

Trafalgar Street, Nelson
Selwyn Place, Nelson

2 1/2 years
4 years

Christ church, Nelson

82/1713

Caroline Manton, mother

01 June 1882

Rev James Leighton, Church of England

No	34
Date of Notice	01 June 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Rogers	Florence Adele Manton
	💍 1882/1213
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Surgeon	Nil
Age	34	18
Dwelling Place	Trafalgar Street, Nelson	Selwyn Place, Nelson
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Christ church, Nelson
Folio	82/1713
Consent	Caroline Manton, mother
Date of Certificate	01 June 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev James Leighton, Church of England

05 June 1882

Burlinson Sedman Chisholm
Emily Preston

Burlinson Sedman Chisholm
Emily Preston
💍 1882/1205

William Stead
Emily Preston
💍 1882/2460

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Nil

29
21

Bridge Street, Nelson
Waimea Road, Nelson

19 years
3 years

Residence of Mary Preston, Waimea Road, Nelson

82/1211

05 June 1882

Rev Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church

No	35
Date of Notice	05 June 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Burlinson Sedman Chisholm	Emily Preston
	💍 1882/1205
BDM Match (60%)	William Stead	Emily Preston
	💍 1882/2460
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Nil
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Bridge Street, Nelson	Waimea Road, Nelson
Length of Residence	19 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mary Preston, Waimea Road, Nelson
Folio	82/1211
Consent
Date of Certificate	05 June 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev Patrick Calder, Presbyterian Church

07 June 1882

Robert Thomas Sadd
Anna Maria Lowther Coveney

Robert Thomas Sadd
Anna Maria Lowther Coveney
💍 1882/1216

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor
Nil

23
19

Tory Street, Nelson
Tory Street, Nelson

1 year
3 days

At residence of J B Sadd, schoolmaster, Tory Street, Nelson

82/1216

No person resident in Colony having authority

21 June 1882

Revd. Alfred Owen Williams, Church of England

No	36
Date of Notice	07 June 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Thomas Sadd	Anna Maria Lowther Coveney
	💍 1882/1216
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor	Nil
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Tory Street, Nelson	Tory Street, Nelson
Length of Residence	1 year	3 days
Marriage Place	At residence of J B Sadd, schoolmaster, Tory Street, Nelson
Folio	82/1216
Consent	No person resident in Colony having authority
Date of Certificate	21 June 1882
Officiating Minister	Revd. Alfred Owen Williams, Church of England

17 June 1882

Francis John Kerr
Louisa Palmer

Francis John Kerr
Louisa Palmer
💍 1882/1196

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nil

26
25

Waimea West
Waimea West

26 years
25 years

St Michaels Church, Waimea West

82/1220

17 June 1882

Rev Charles Oliver Mules, Church of England

No	37
Date of Notice	17 June 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis John Kerr	Louisa Palmer
	💍 1882/1196
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nil
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Waimea West	Waimea West
Length of Residence	26 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St Michaels Church, Waimea West
Folio	82/1220
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 June 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev Charles Oliver Mules, Church of England

21 June 1882

Henry Tremewan
Fanny Polglase

Henry Tremewan
Fanny Polglase
💍 1882/1195

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Nil

23
24

Brook Street, Nelson
Brook Street, Nelson

3 weeks
24 years

Residence of Joseph Polglase, Brook Street, Nelson

82/1219

21 June 1882

Rev William Lee, Wesleyan Church

No	38
Date of Notice	21 June 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Tremewan	Fanny Polglase
	💍 1882/1195
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Nil
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Brook Street, Nelson	Brook Street, Nelson
Length of Residence	3 weeks	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Joseph Polglase, Brook Street, Nelson
Folio	82/1219
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev William Lee, Wesleyan Church

24 June 1882

John Clinch
Elizabeth Andrew

John Clinch
Elizabeth Andrew
💍 1882/1197

Bachelor
Spinster

Shoemaker
Nil

28
22

Waimea West
Waimea West

6 months
22 years

St Michaels Church, Waimea West

82/1221

24 June 1882

Rev Charles Oliver Mules, Church of England

No	39
Date of Notice	24 June 1882
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Clinch	Elizabeth Andrew
	💍 1882/1197
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shoemaker	Nil
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Waimea West	Waimea West
Length of Residence	6 months	22 years
Marriage Place	St Michaels Church, Waimea West
Folio	82/1221
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 June 1882
Officiating Minister	Rev Charles Oliver Mules, Church of England

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).